Chapter Text
Luke did not want to get out of bed.
The only thing that made it better for him was the fact that it was Thalia who woke him up. It might have been the ass-crack of dawn, but Thalia made things better.
“Morning, Thals,” he couldn’t keep the smile off his face as she grabbed his hand.
“Morning,” she leaned in and kissed his forehead gently. It was always nice when she did that, but this one felt special. “Happy birthday, Luke.”
“Thanks,” he said, lying on his back for a moment, taking in the comfort for a moment before sitting up. “So, got anything planned for me today?”
“What makes you think I do?” Thalia tilted her head, eyes glinting with amusement.
“Because it’s you,” he poked her in the side, and she laughed, throwing her arms around his shoulders and hugging him tight. Ever since they started doing that when they were younger, she always hugged him on his birthday, just like he did on hers.
It was nice.
“We have a day planned for you,” she said into his shoulder, squeezing him once. “It’ll just be us, Percy, Sally, Sil, Drew, Con, and Trav. Just us and no one else, though Daphne and Brianna said they’ll try to swing by later, but I’m not sure if they’ll manage. It’s not anything too fancy cause we figured you wouldn’t want that.”
“You figured right,” he tightened his grip around her for a moment before pulling back, smiling at her. “Sounds like it’ll be fun.”
“Only the best for you, Luke,” she kissed his cheek, and he wouldn’t deny that it made him feel warm inside. “I love you.”
“Love you too, Thals,” he pulled back then and got off the bed, feeling Thalia shift around and move to the door.
“We’ll be waiting for you in the living room,” she called over to him. “Don’t take too long.”
That was the plan, as he was kind of excited to see what the others had planned for him. Birthdays weren’t something he used to care about when he was younger. Between his mom’s state and running on the streets, he didn’t have much time to think about his birthday. The first one he celebrated was when Thalia found out in their second year on the streets.
The cake was a cupcake they stole off a local bakery, the candle was half burnt and thrown away, and Thalia almost started a forest fire trying to light it, but it was still the best day of his life up to that point. Of course, that day has been topped since then, with him and Thalia spending many more birthdays together since then. It wasn’t always a big thing, some years being too busy, but they always managed to make time for each other.
She always knew how to brighten up his day.
It didn’t take him too long to get dressed and make his way to the living room, where everyone was already there. Percy was the first one to notice he was there. “Luke!”
The kid launched himself at Luke, wrapping his arms around his back, hugging him tightly. Shaking his head, Luke hugged him back, unable to say anything as he noticed Percy’s head reached past his shoulder now.
He wasn’t too sure how he felt about all that. The kid was growing up so fast; it kind of hurt, but at the same time, he was growing. The fact that he was growing, that he was able to grow, and he wasn’t taken out at a young age like so many demigods before him made his heart swell.
Out of every demigod he’d met, Percy was the one he wanted to see grow up the most. Given that he and Thalia had already made it, he had hopes for the kid making it.
For now, he contended himself with the hug. His little brother was growing up.
He could tell Thalia felt the same, as they shared a look before Percy stepped back. That didn’t surprise him as much as it maybe should have, not with how much she loved Percy, but there was still a part of him that was amazed she loved the kid this much. It wasn’t a secret that Thalia loved with all her heart, but getting that love wasn’t easy.
It had taken Luke a few years before he saw that level of care from Thalia, not until he was sixteen, a good four years after they’d met. Of course, he knew she’d cared about him before that, but the shift into being more than just a normal friend hadn’t come until then. Percy had managed it in just over a year.
Then again, he thought with a smile, looking at Percy with a level of fondness he hadn’t thought he’d be able to manage before. Percy is a special one.
Not willing to be outdone, the moment Percy stepped away, Luke was tackled by Travis and Connor. Thankfully, they had the awareness not to actually launch themselves at him like they no doubt would have done if he’d been in a better physical state, but it was still nice. He hadn’t seen the little shits in a while.
Drew just stood back and waved at him with a smile. “Happy birthday, Luke.”
The two of them weren’t exactly as close as Luke was with the others, but he did like the girl well enough. There were hugs all around, with Silena’s being especially sweet, though that was to be expected given she was a sweetheart.
Then, it was Sally’s turn, and he couldn’t deny that this was the closest he’d gotten to a birthday hug from his mom in a long time. She’d hugged him last birthday, of course, but back then, he hadn’t let himself think this way. Now, though, Sally was his mom. It was weird, given she was only twelve years older than him, but weirder things happened in their worlds.
“Happy birthday, baby,” she whispered, making him tear up just a bit. He managed to hold it in before pulling away, but he’d heard her call Percy that before. She’d already said he was her kid now, but it still warmed him to the core whenever she said something like that.
The rest of the party went well enough, though he’d be lying if he said it was anything too big. It was still special, though, mainly because his family was all here. Seeing the people he cared about the most all in one place was great, and the gifts were fine, though he’d be lying if he said he explicitly wanted them.
Everyone being here was enough.
Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was up. There was something going on that he couldn’t quite put his finger on, and he didn’t like it. Had he been more involved in everyone’s lives at this stage, he had no doubt he would have been able to see it immediately, or at least he would have been able to figure it out.
There was something going on with Percy, and he didn’t like not knowing what it was.
He tried not to make it too obvious that he was watching the kid. It wasn’t too hard managing that, even with how tired he tended to be. Keeping his inner thoughts in check and hidden is what helped him live this long, after all, though he knew Sally would give him a look at the thought of twenty-two being a long life, but that wasn’t exactly the point.
Demigods tended to die young after all, with Thalia’s twentieth birthday last winter having been an achievement for her, especially. She’d be turning twenty-one at the end of this year, which was another amazing thing in and of itself.
Shaking his head, Luke tried to get his thoughts back on track. Something was up with Percy, and he had to figure out what the problem was.
Figuring out what was going on with Percy proved to be harder than he’d expected. He looked fine enough, nothing new going on really. There were no new injuries; he looked tired but not much more than normal, and he seemed generally happy right now. Maybe he was looking in the wrong place, but he couldn’t think of much else to look for.
That was when Thalia strolled up to him. “Trying to figure out what’s wrong with Percy?”
He should have figured she’d notice this, given Thalia knew him better than he knew himself, it felt like sometimes. “Yeah. Feels like I’m looking in the wrong place, but he doesn’t look too bad.”
“No, he’s physically fine,” she nodded. “Nothing new’s happened to him specifically.”
The way she said it made him think. Nothing new has happened to him specifically, but she made it clear that something was happening. Taking a closer look at Percy, Luke frowned as he noticed. “He’s sitting closer to Silena than to Drew.”
While it wasn’t by much, Percy did seem like he was just an inch or so closer to Silena than he was to Drew. The two were still close, of course, but compared to before, when they used to be pressed up against each other, it felt like there was a crevice in between them that even his Father couldn’t cross.
“Yeah,” Thalia sighed. “I’ve noticed it happening over the past few weeks. Sil mentioned they don’t seem as close as they used to be, and Daphne said the two might be close to breaking up.”
She kept her voice low so only he could hear it, but it still sounded like she was screaming. Percy was heading toward his first breakup, and Luke didn’t know what to do.
“I wish he didn’t have to go through that,” he found himself saying, though he knew it was inevitable at some point.
“Me too,” Thalia leaned her head on his shoulder, which did help a bit. “But we’ll be there for him.”
“Always,” that wasn’t even a question. Helping Percy out was the least he’d be willing to do.
“Daphne and Brianna said they’d help too,” Thalia grabbed his hand and squeezed. “I’m just kind of glad it’s with Drew and not someone else. At least we know she’s a good kid.”
“Yeah,” while it sucked that the two of them were going toward heartbreak, he had to admit, at least it was with each other.
At the very least, he knew this would be better than them having to go through this with anyone else. He just hoped they’d be able to put themselves back together after it all.
Luke’s birthday party was going great.
The best part for Percy was seeing Luke up on his feet. Sure, he’d seen Luke walk again, but he was looking a lot better than he had before. Pretty soon, Percy was sure he could even go on quests again.
That’s what he was chatting about with Silena and Drew right now. They were on the couch, enjoying the cake, while Luke and Thalia were over on the counter, being oblivious that they liked each other.
At some point, Percy couldn’t keep it in anymore. “I know I say love’s like a fart and you shouldn’t force it, but this is getting ridiculous.”
The girls both snorted as Drew took over, tilting her head. “Oh, I know, hun. It’s almost crazy how gone for each other they are, and they don’t even notice it.”
Before he could comment, he heard a knock at the door. “I’ll get it!”
Quickly getting up, he hoped dearly that it was who he thought it would be. When he opened the door, he nearly burst out of his skin with excitement. “Daphne! Brianna!”
He was quickly pulled into a tight hug from the two. He had to admit, it was nice seeing them again, and he could finally introduce them to Silena.
The moment he stepped away, he heard Luke’s footsteps behind him. “I was wondering if you were gonna show up.”
“You didn’t think we’d miss your birthday, did you?” Daphne and Brianna both took a step forward and hugged Luke quickly before moving on to Thalia.
Now, Percy could call this a full party with everyone important here.
The rest of the day was spent mostly just catching up, with Percy especially taking the time to introduce Daphne and Brianna to Silena. That had been something he’d wanted to do for a long time, and they quickly got to the main point as soon as Thalia and Luke were out of earshot.
“Percy said you ran a betting pool to see when those two idiots get together,” Daphne cut to the chase pretty quickly. “We want in.”
“Alright, let’s hear the bets,” Silena smiled, pulling out a different notepad from the one she used for the rest of camp. As much as he wanted to tell them about the mythical world, he didn’t see a good way to do it now, so explaining the drachmas thing wouldn’t be a good idea.
He left the three of them to their conversation as the happy couple threw their bets in, though it was more accurate to say that Daphne was handling the bets. The moment he stood up, Brianna got up with him, kissing Daphne quickly before she took Percy to the side. “How’ve you been, Perce?”
Looking at her, Percy couldn’t help but notice he was just a bit taller than she was now, which was something she seemed to notice as well, as she shook her head, smiling. “Actually, we can focus on this first. You’ve grown, Percy.”
“Yeah,” he rubbed the back of his head, feeling a bit awkward. He’d already had this conversation with Luke, Thalia, and his mom, so he knew this, but it hadn’t really hit him until this point. “I guess I have.”
“Well, I guess I can’t say I’m surprised,” she reached out and ruffled his hair, something he didn’t normally accept from most people. “Anyway, how are you and Drew holding up?”
“We’re doing fine,” he shrugged, not really understanding the question. The look Brianna gave him wasn’t one he really understood, but it was gone pretty quickly. The two of them were in the kitchen right now, away from the rest. “What about you and Daphne?”
The smile on Brianna’s face told the whole story. The two of them were in love, and there was no way to miss it. “I think you already know.”
“Maybe,” he smiled, going over to the fridge to get some water. “You know, I never asked, but where are you guys from?”
“Oh,” Brianna blinked. “We never went over that?”
“I mean, I think you told Luke and Thalia at one point, but not me,” Percy shrugged, grabbing a glass and holding it out. “Water?”
“Sure,” she took the glass and frowned. “Huh, yeah, I don’t think we told you. Uh, so, Daph’s from the city, Queens. I’m from South Carolina. Got a scholarship at NYU, so I moved here.”
“South Carolina? Really?” Percy tilted his head.
“Mhm,” she nodded, leaning against the counter. “Not too far, but not exactly from New York. Drove Daphne mad whenever it came up.”
“I can imagine,” Percy snorted. He had a feeling it had come up more times than not, too. “So,” he knew what he wanted to ask, but he had no idea how to bring it up without sounding like an asshole for it. Though from the look on Brianna’s face, she seemed to know what he was going to ask, and she had a small smile on her face. “Uh… can you tell me a bit more about yourself?”
He hoped that would work, but given the laugh Brianna got out, he had a feeling he’d failed at being subtle. “I know what you’re asking, and it’s fine, kiddo. At least, from you, it’s fine. My dad’s from South Carolina, white as a sheet, but my mom’s from down south. Not sure how they got together, never really asked, but it worked out. Dad’s a fisherman, Mom’s a school principal. For Daph, both her parents are firefighters.”
That made sense, though Percy couldn’t help but frown. “She won’t mind you telling me that?”
“No, she won’t,” that was Daphne’s voice as she walked into the kitchen. “We’ve been meaning to tell you since the last time we met up, given it looked like you were really curious. We just figured we’d let the first one of us let you know.”
“Oh, okay then,” he found himself smiling as Daphne hugged her girlfriend from behind, the two of them melting into each other. He wanted something like that for himself.
The three of them went back into the living room, finding the party was still going strong. He noticed that Brianna and Daphne were shooting him some looks, but they didn’t look annoyed with him, so he figured it was just some general worry. It might have been to do with the whole getting kidnapped thing and them being worried he wasn’t over it.
He wasn’t sure if he was over it yet, but he was getting better, so there was that.
The party started winding down after a few hours, with everyone going home. Daphne and Brianna were the first to leave, what with finals coming up. From what they said, they’d be fine, but they wanted to be safe. Next to go were the Stolls, with Connor giving Percy a quick hug before he headed off. It had been a long time since he’d hung out with Connor, so they agreed to do something soon.
The last to leave were Silena and Drew, with Silena giving him a long hug before heading off. “Take care of yourself, okay?”
“You too,” he squeezed her once before turning to Drew, who was watching them with a small smile. “Hey, Dee.”
“Hey, yourself,” she threw her arms around him, hugging him gently. He held her back in kind, infinitely glad she’d shown up. “I’ll see you at camp.”
“Be careful, okay, Dee?” he leaned back, smiling at her. “Don’t wanna lose you.”
“You too,” she leaned in to kiss him quickly before stepping back, following her sister out of the house. Turning back to his family, he quickly noticed they were hiding frowns at something, but he didn’t know what.
I didn’t matter too much, he supposed. If it were important, they’d let him know.
Still, there was a nagging thought at the back of his mind, something he couldn’t ignore, but he had no idea what it was. All he knew was that it was important and that he had to figure it out.
It gnawed at him the rest of the day, not letting him focus on much besides the basics. It wasn’t until he’d dropped to bed and was trying to sleep that it hit him.
He and Drew only kissed once today, with it being their goodbye kiss, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that.